Bag support for vacuum cleaners



Sept. 15, 1931. J. F. CARSON BAG SUPPORT FOR VACUUM CLEANERS Filed June6', 1927 Patented Sept. 15, 1931 UNITED STATES PATENT". OFFICE JESSE I.CARSON, OF CLEVELAND, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO ELECTRIC VACE'UM CLEANERCOMPANY, INC 0]! CLEVELAND, OHIO, A CORPORATION Q]? NEW YORK BAG SUPPORTFOR VACUUM; CLEANERS Application filed June 6,

The present invention relates to bag supports especially forsmall vacuumcleaners and has for its object to improve their construction to the endthat the bag is held by the discharge conduit of the fan casing in suchposition that it does'not interfere with the user or drag over thesurface being cleaned.

For a consideration of what I believe to be novel and my invention,attention is directed to the accompanying description and the claims apended thereto.

In the drawings, which are illustrative of my invention, Fig. 1 is aperspective view of a small hand cleaner; Fig. 2 is a detail of thebag-supporting means, and Fig. 3 is a sectional detailed view on anenlarged scale of the lips of the bag and the closing means.

3 indicates the nozzle of a cleaner, 4 the casing of the suction fan, 5the motor which drives the fan, and 6 the handle for moving the cleanerabout. 7 is the discharge conduit of the fan casing and through whichdustladened air passes into the dust bag. The weight of the bag isentirely sustained by this conduit instead of partly so, as is theuniversal practice with larger cleaners desi ned to clean floorcoverings.

indicates a sheet metal fitting which is adapted to be slipped over orinto theouter end of the discharge conduit, and is normally held inplace by a bayonet lockcomprising a pair of slots 8 and cooperating pins9. When the fitting is properly mounted in place the lock prevents itfrom turning and thus the bag support is held in proper and definiteposition' The fitting is also pro vided with parallel grooves 10 toassist in fastening the neck 11 of the bag thereto, a binding of wire11a being used for the purpose. The bag 12 is made of the same materialas is customarily used for the purpose. It may have any suitable shapeso long as it can be fully supported by the means hereinafter described.It is impor- 1927. Serial No. 196,744.

tant not to let the bag drag and also to preyent it from being hit whenthe cleaner is 1n use because blows thereon, even light ones, cause acertain amount of dust to be discharged therefrom through the pores inthe cloth. To support the bag a closely coiled spring 13 is employedwhich is bent to form a loop with the large end at the rear. This springis of such strength and the loop of such size that it holds the bag inits distended condition instead of letting it fall limp as soon as thefan stops. The two ends of the spring are fastened to the fitting byscrews 14 located at diametrically opposite points. To prevent theescape of dirt around the fastening means of the spring, the neck of thebag is extended a sufiicient distance over them' to effectually seal thesame. The spring ends are so fastened to the fitting that the springloop and the bag as a whole occupya plane whlch is substantially at aright angle to the plane of the nozzle and at an acute angle to the axisof the cleaner, the purpose being to keep the bag away from the handleand out of contact with the arm of the user. The bag is thus relativelyrigid in this plane, but is relatively yieldable in a direction at anangle thereto. Looking down on the bag in the condition shown, it isrelatively thin, the thickness being only slightly greater than thediameter of the spring. The spring holds the top and bottom edges of thebag in spaced relation without dilating the bag and is stiff enough sothat the rear end cannot appreciably sag, even when containing asubstantial amount of dirt. The bag is thus kept above the plane of thenozzle and above the surface to be cleaned. When the cleaner is inoperationthe sides of the bag are somewhat more widely separated thanshown due to internal air pressure, the spring 13 permitting of this.The bottom side of the bag is provided with a dirt removing opening,which is normally held closed by a spring pressed clamp of any suitableconstruction. The lips 16 of the bag Opening, as shown in Fig. 3, areformed by folding back the edges of the material of which the bag iscomposed and fastening them in place in any desired manner. This has theefi'ect of forming a thickened portion which prevents the clamp 15 fromslipping off the bag. The lips 16 of the bag opening project below thespring and when the clamp is removed, the dirt can be freely dischargedpast the spring. In other words the lips of the bag and the opening areoutside of or beyond the peripheral surface of the spring.

With this construction, it is unnecessary to fasten the bag to thespring.

Owing to the character of the bag support the bag is prevented fromdragging over the surface being cleaned, it does not interfere with thearm or hand of the operator when in use, and the support beingresilient, no harm is done to the bag if by accident it hits anotherobject. A further advantage arises from the fact that the suspension ischeap and is easily made especially in quantity production.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. In a vacuum cleaner having a suction nozzle, a driving motor, astationary operating handle attached to the cleaner directly above thedriving motor, a discharge conduit above the plane of the nozzle, and arelatively long, thin dust bag, a means for supporting the bag andconnecting the same with the discharge conduit, said means comprising afitting secured to the neck of the bag and releasably connecting thelatter to the end of the discharge conduit in one definite position withthe bag extending rearwardly in the direction of its length, and aspring located within the bag and bent to form a loop which stands in aplane at substantially a right angle to the plane of the nozzle and theends of which are secured to the fitting, the spring being of suchstrength and the loop being of such size that the bag is entirelysupported thereon from the fitting and held in a distended flatcondition away from the handle and wholly above the plane of the nozzle,said spring being secured to and removable with the fitting.

2. A dust separator for vacuum cleaners comprising a filtering baghaving a small neck and a dirt removing opening having lips, acylindrical metal fitting to which the neck is secured and whichisadapted to engage the discharge conduit of a cleaner and receive dirttherefrom, a spring located with in and distending the bag and which. isbent to form a loop and occupies a vertical plane when in use on thecleaner, the ends of the spring being fastened to the fitting, and ameans for closing the lips of Said opening which is located outside ofthe peripheral surface of the spring.

3. A dust separator for vacuum cleaners comprising a filtering baghaving a small neck and a dirt removing opening having lips, acylindrical metal fitting to which the neck is secured and which isadapted to engage the discharge conduit of a cleaner and receive dirttherefrom, a bag support made of wire which is coiled on itself to forma spring, is bent to form a loop, is located within the bag to distendit, and has its ends attached to the fitting, and a means for closingsaid opening which is located outside of the peripheral surface of thebag support.

4. A dust separator for vacuum cleaners comprising a filtering baghaving a small neck and a dirt removing opening, a cylindrical metalfitting to which the neck is secured and which is adapted to engage thedischarge conduit of a cleaner and receive dirt therefrom, a springlocated within the bag to distend and support it, said spring beingfastened at its ends to the fitting in such manner that the bag occupiesa vertical plane when in use on the cleaner, the ends of the spring andthe fastening being covered by the bag to prevent escape of dirt, and ameans for closing said opening which is in the plane of the spring andoutside of the peripheral surface thereof.

5. A dust separator for hand vacuum cleaners comprising a collapsiblefiltering bag having a small neck and a dirt removing opening havinglips, a closing means for the lips, a cylindrlcal fitting to which theneck of the bag is secured and which is adapted to engage a dischargeconduit and receive dirt therefrom, a locking means for the fitting bywhich it is secured on the conduit in a definite position and heldthereby against angular movement when in use, and a wire member which islocated within the bag and forms the support therefor, said member beingfastened to the fitting in such manner that when the fitting is 0peratively secured to said discharge conduit the bag is held thereby in asubstantially vertical plane and at one side of the cleaner.

6. In a vacuum cleaner having a nozzle, a rearwardly extending dischargeconduit for the dust laden air, and a handle rigidly fastened to theupper side of the cleaner for moving it about, with a dust separatortherefor comprising a collapsible filtering bag which is relatively longand thin and has tially parallel to and at one side of the handle, anda, wire member which is located within the bag and forms a support tosustain the bag in its proper position with the lower edge above thelevel of the nozzle so as not to contact withw the surface of thearticle being cleaned, said" member bein permanently secured to andremovable wit the fitting and held by it in fixed relation to saidhandle.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this 24th da of Ma 1927.

\ SSE CARSON.

